Online customers of TD Ameritrade and Scottrade were locked out of their trading accounts during Monday's massive selloff causing a significant plunge in markets from the Dow Jones Industrial Average to NASDAQ, S&P 500 and beyond. The selloff impacted international markets too, dropping the Shanghai Composite Index 8.49% since Friday; Stoxx Europe 600 was down 5.33%.
As for individual stocks, the Wall Street Journal reported that shares of JP Morgan Chase & Co., for instance, were down more than 20% at some point on Monday, causing JP Morgan to call an emergency investment committee meeting. WSJ also noted that Standard Chartered PLC and HSBC Holdings PCL were down significantly over the past year.
During August 24's morning rush, TD Ameritrade announced it was experiencing difficulties with both mobile platforms and one of its login sites, all while the global markets were engaged in a large-scale selloff that TD noted was both "historic" and a "significant increase in normal trading volumes." Scottrade Inc. estimated the uptick across its systems as a 230% spike in trading volume.
Meanwhile, some Wall Street Journal commenters claiming to be investment clients of TD Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, said they were unable to log on and execute buy orders or other trades on Monday morning, noting that being locked out of the system "cost [us] money today that will not be recouped." A second commenter added the inability to login and trade was a "trust issue" causing investors to lose out on "some serious money."
If you have invested with TD Ameritrade, Scottrade, or with any brokerage firm or dealer and were unable to access key investment services—such as login or account webpages—and the associated inability to engage in transactions in a timely manner has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for investigation and consultation.
News: Online Brokerage Firms Overwhelmed by Selloff (The Wall Street Journal)